What Are You Looking For?

This is a horror mystery built around Abby’s effort to learn what happened to her mother. Its appeal may lie in the unanswered disappearance and the group’s encounter in the cave.

A lively historical-fantasy mystery for readers interested in baseball: Joe and his father pursue an unresolved question about Babe Ruth while confronting the unusual possibilities and responsibilities of time travel.

A supernatural mystery about Janie, whose cemetery sketch seems to carry a message from beyond the grave. Her friendship with Bobby and Keith develops alongside questions about belonging, belief and a secret connected with the dead.

A suspenseful family mystery follows Footer as she investigates what happened after a devastating fire. Her mother’s bipolar disorder and Footer’s uncertainty about her own perceptions make the investigation emotionally complicated.

A comic fantasy mystery built around unusual weather, an imprisoned uncle and a determined group of friends.

A straightforward mystery with a teenage investigator, a friendship that supports the enquiry, boxing as a recurring motif, and danger that increases as questions are asked. It offers clues, action and school intrigue rather than an unusually experimental structure.

This offers animal fantasy built around clans, ancestral voices, prophecy and an emerging internal threat. Its strongest draw is likely the combination of a troubled community, spiritual mystery and a young character with unusual access to warning voices.

A brisk comic adventure about children investigating suspicious adults at a phone-free retreat. Expect secret trips, lizards, alligators, captivity and criminal schemes alongside friendship, teamwork and characters learning from new information.

This is a time-travel adventure centred on friendship, fairness and an orphan’s vulnerability. Its historical setting and Christian-life framing may offer a lively starting point for discussing how stories represent justice and belonging.

A lively historical mystery follows Scooter from helping with staged séances to investigating a death after finding a dead man in Houdini’s torture tank. It offers adventure, period atmosphere, supernatural imagery and a brisk first-person voice.

This is a brisk family mystery built around bereavement, public scrutiny and uncertainty about who caused a parent’s death. Its strongest pull is the siblings’ effort to face painful events and question the accepted story.

A warm, unconventional family story is paired with a mystery inherited from Kip’s late father. The book offers questions about belonging, memory and change, while introducing unsettling ideas about teenagers and infection.

A twist-led English manor mystery follows Stevie’s investigation of two 1995 killings. Alongside clues and alternating time periods, it explores friendship, romance, trust and the pressures of senior year.

A character-led teen romance about revenge, filmmaking and changing assumptions. Its strongest appeal may be the tension between Wren’s determined judgement of Beckett and her growing uncertainty about whether she understands him.

This is a fast-moving horror adventure built around a familiar childhood game becoming strange and threatening. Its unusual file-based presentation adds mystery, while the friendship between Adam and Sol gives the frightening situation an emotional centre.

A puzzle-led mystery for readers who enjoy secrets, shifting timelines and an atmospheric setting. Marlowe’s self-deprecating humour and developing relationship with Akilah sit alongside family tragedy, present-day danger and questions about how the past shapes the present.

Expect a fast-moving, twisty mystery shaped by creepy folklore, family conflict and uncertainty about what Ava can trust. Its strongest features are atmosphere, suspense and clues that invite readers to solve the case alongside her.

A tense mystery centred on a missing teenager, changing friendships and a return intended to bring closure. Readers piece together clues alongside Millie through a layered account of secrets and uncertainty.

This offers a contained lunar mystery with clues, suspects, suspense and humour. Its appeal lies in Dash’s investigation, the unusual space setting and the contrast between boredom, danger and intellectual challenge.

A short, visually expressive story about a newcomer, suspicion and the possibility of belonging. Its emotional centre is the contrast between what the animals assume and what they learn about the stranger’s past.

A playful supernatural mystery about reputation, friendship and suspicion, with a popular witch at its centre. It offers magical-school atmosphere, social drama, a murder investigation and romantic tension rather than a purely cosy school story.

A visually rich introduction to detective fiction, offering a contained mystery, recurring animal friends and clues for readers to inspect. It combines suspense about a theft and suspected parents with humour, friendship and collaborative problem-solving.

A brisk historical mystery follows Lily and Tom from their travelling life into a more dangerous search involving a carved treasure, a new friendship and hidden family secrets. Its accessible prose and illustrations may suit readers who enjoy adventure but prefer shorter chapter books.

This is a clue-led historical adventure about a young protagonist acting under pressure to help her imprisoned father. It offers travel, ancient objects, a companionable magpie and a mystery that links art and evidence.

Choose this for a reader who enjoys classic mysteries, deduction and a slightly spooky atmosphere. Its strongest appeal is the Holmes-and-Watson partnership, carefully constructed investigation and influential detective-fiction pattern.

A fast-moving, puzzle-led thriller built around a week of threats. It offers suspense, clues, red herrings and questions about why people conceal painful truths, with grief and past events shaping Kay’s return.

Expect a fast-moving, atmospheric slasher mystery built around teenage friendship, investigation and uncertainty about whether a haunting is real. The central appeal is suspense and clue-following rather than realistic crime analysis.

A fast-moving mystery about a child trying to clear her father’s name, with computer crime, family pressure and danger. Victoria’s intelligence, courage and persistence drive the investigation.

Expect a lively chapter-book mystery in which gardening, friendship and family expectations meet cemetery suspense. Jackson’s first-person voice mixes jokes with unease as he investigates whether the outlaw rose’s supposed curse is real.

A creepy mystery with a strong investigative thread, this book pairs supernatural suspense with questions about local history, friendship and family support. It may suit readers who enjoy unsettling atmosphere alongside a clearly developing mystery.

This is an ensemble survival and mystery story about young people adapting to an evacuation camp, then investigating the threat behind it. Its changing forms invite attention to how different voices record events and make sense of uncertainty.

This is a comic pet mystery built around a group of friends, an ugly dog and increasingly puzzling disappearances. Expect playful embarrassment, detective activity and gross-out imagery rather than a quiet or realistic animal story.

A brisk mystery combining a shipwreck hunt, museum history and a theft. Sam and Annabel’s investigation offers adventure and a friendship-centred story, with the storm and missing artefact supplying suspense.

This is a clue-driven pirate mystery about testing an apparently supernatural explanation against the possibility of a human hoax. Its main appeal is following evidence and asking who might want the treasure.

This is a mystery about a boy facing an unfair punishment and trying to understand a suspicious institution. The curse adds a generational dimension, while the buried secret gives Stanley a reason to question what he is told.

A historical ghost mystery with strong atmosphere: Remi and Niya investigate a repeated murder, a missing child and a house connected to an old crime, while confronting a dangerous supernatural world.

This is a suspenseful historical adventure about a boy surviving exploitation through observation and deduction. Its central tension combines a murder accusation with the question of whether someone treated as different can find a better fate.

A tense young-adult crime mystery about noticing troubling evidence, being dismissed, and choosing to investigate. It also includes secrets, missing teenagers, a possible serial killer and romantic chemistry between Willow and Dare.

This is a coming-of-age story about social expectations, self-doubt and disrupted assumptions. Jodi’s reliance on astrology is challenged by events surrounding her birthday, opening a path towards revelations and adventure.

A fast-moving mystery-adventure about stolen treasure, international clues and an archaeological dig. The Hardys face danger and uncertainty as they pursue answers, with the story ending in their enemies being outsmarted and a surprising revelation.

This is a high-stakes dystopian story about a teenager challenging a DNA-based social division. It combines investigation, escape and resistance with questions about truth, authority and the consequences of exposing powerful people.

A light classroom mystery about curiosity, investigation and the danger of acting on incomplete information. Harry’s confidence drives the case, while Doug’s objection introduces a question about responsible evidence-gathering.

This is a fast-moving crime adventure in which twins are placed in danger because of an adult criminal operation. Expect suspense involving a kidnapping, firearms and attempts to use family relationships as leverage.

This offers a young protagonist drawn into a mystery that reaches from crime stories and radio drama into his family life. Its starting point invites attention to uncertainty, accusation and the meaning of loyalty.

A lively mystery with a threatening edge, told through Bowser’s investigation of a break-in and the unresolved death of Birdie’s father. Its appeal appears to lie in clues, danger, unusual characters and the dog’s protective role.